This invention relates to heavy-duty loading equipment which employs a front loader bucket such as for example earth working equipment used in highway construction. More particularly, this invention relates to a clamp assembly for mounting a snow plow to the lip of a loader bucket.
A number of attachments and clamp assemblies have been developed for mounting to the loader buckets of heavy-duty loading equipment so that the equipment is adapted for performing various auxiliary tasks in addition to the heavy-duty loading task to which the equipment is specifically adapted. Exemplary of such attachments are the multiple tool attachments disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,793, which attachments were invented by the inventor of the present invention. The latter patent discloses a plurality of multiple tool attachments which can be efficiently mounted onto the buckets of earth working equipment such as backhoes or loaders. The attachments are adapted to support any of a plurality of various tools. The latter multiple tool attachments have been successful in overcoming many of the deficiencies of prior art attachments which require either the provision of specially designed buckets or substantial modifications to the existing bucket. In addition, the latter multiple tool attachments have been successful in overcoming previous prior art deficiencies wherein the time period expended in mounting and dismounting the attachment is significant, especially in comparison to the actual period of use of the attached tool, and deficiencies wherein the additional flexibility of the loader equipment provided by the prior art attachments is somewhat negated by required permanent fixtures and modifications to the equipment interfering with the normal use and performance of the loader equipment.
The present invention overcomes many of the above-noted deficiencies of prior art attachment mechanisms to provide a new and improved clamp assembly which is especially adaptable for mounting and securing a snow plow to the loader bucket of front loader earth moving equipment. The present invention efficiently exploits for the task of snow removal the recognized capabilities of heavy-duty loading equipment of the type employing a frontally operated loader bucket. The bucket loader/snow plow combination provided by the present invention is advantageous for pushing snow over dividers and walkways and many other similar applications since the cutting edge or working edge of the snow plow is significantly forward of the wheels of the equipment vehicle. In addition, the heavy-duty loading equipment normally has substantial power and traction capabilities and high-speed backing characteristics, and provides substantially 360.degree. vision for the operator. The snow plow clamp assembly of the present invention is especially designed to distribute the stresses exerted on the plow and clamp assembly during snow plowing operations to substantially lessen the likelihood that the clamp assembly will be inadvertantly disengaged from the loader bucket.